Is NRG still a team? Are ya'll keeping that spot? I just generally have a lot of roster questions. Who's playing 7 man for Damage? Who's playing for NRG? Let me know, thanks man.

We will have 2 spots in the NPPL, the rosters haven't been decided 100%, we were concentrating on X-ball. They should be confirmed after this weekend and then we will post them up here for you all to see.

Were you guys worried about how we'll you'd do during LAO since it was such a new roster? How hard and long did you practice to make up and build such a strong team in such a short time?

I don't know if worried is the right word but I'd be lying to you if I said some of us were not nervous, especially for the new members like myself. I will say the nerves went away pretty quickly after the 1st point of the 1st match of the tournament...it was all business after that.

I feel a large part of our relative success this past tournament was due to the amount of drilling we did. While drilling may not be as fun as scrimmaging another team, but I believe it played a large part in helping us increase our individual skills along with a solid team foundation very quickly.

I just wanted to say:

Thanks for all the support. It's great to play for a team that is dedicated to working hard and performing. It's also amazing to play for a team that has such great support from it's fans from all over the world. It means alot and thank you all. I don't get a chance to get on this website alot, but will visit when I can. Hope to meet some of you at the events.

what are some of the things you guys do to mentally prepare yourselves for the game(s)? i know some people listen to music, some sit alone, some go over the game plan a million times.... what do you guys do? What do you think about?

__________________

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

what are some of the things you guys do to mentally prepare yourselves for the game(s)? i know some people listen to music, some sit alone, some go over the game plan a million times.... what do you guys do? What do you think about?

I think a lot of people like the music thing and we have one or two players that just like to sit and think about winning.
I like to walk up and down just thinking about winning, getting the flag and just shooting people in the face.

what are some of the things you guys do to mentally prepare yourselves for the game(s)? i know some people listen to music, some sit alone, some go over the game plan a million times.... what do you guys do? What do you think about?

There's really a balance between what each person does as an individual, and what we do as a team. So far the best balance i've ever seen or been apart of, is the warmup routine that Rich and the XSV Oldie's have come up with. As a team we warmup together, with each individual doing their own personal routine within the teams' warmup.

As a team, we were at the field at 7 a.m. every single morning of the tournament to walk the field before games started at 7:30. In that 30 minutes we break up into squads and re-evaluate the plays and gameplans that we have come up with before hand, and alter them to better suit the team we're going to play. After the games have started, as a team we are in the stands watching the other teams play the field to see what works and what doesn't. Sometimes when you practice on a field layout, you can run up to the 40 Dorito with no problem, but at the tournament, you might not be able to. Watching the games as a team, allows everyone on the team to see what the field allows for them as an individual to do. So while Thomas is watching games, he's looking to see if the guy who's playing his side of the field is making it to the snake on the break, who's shooting at that guy, so on and so forth. So to start with, as a team you can start by getting to the field and having each person on your team, watch what the other teams players are doing/able to do.

The next thing we do is go to the staging area as a team and start to gear up, usually about and hour and a half to two hours before our first game. It's at this point in the teams warmup, that the individual will take over. While we're putting on our gear, Thomas and Marcus Nielson will put on their ipod's, (honestly i think they're listening to Supertramp, or Disney's Alladin soundtrack, or something along those lines! I only say that because Marcus sometimes will look at you and say, "I can show you the world..." :-P) But seriously while we're gearing up as a team, we each do our own thing, some listen to music, Trevor Mcgee is quiet, Siewars, Pridieux and I quote family guy, and Neil comes up to each of us individually and tells us to, "have a game" but for the most part we're joking around with each other and just talking.

After we've geared up, we'll go over to an open area, jog a few laps and stretch as a team. Again, it's here that each person's individual routine fits within what the team is doing. While we're stretching, Thomas leads us but is still listenting to his ipod. Telford, is actually really quiet during this time, probably because he's wondering if his pills have kicked in for his back! After we stretch as a team, we pull it in and have a real quiet pep talk. For us, this weekend each pep-talk included bits about not forgetting what we've worked on for the last two months and how we had something to prove because a lot of people out there didn't expect much from us. After this we broke out and this is where the team's warmup was over and each person does what they need to do to get in the zone. When we get to this point it's usually 30-40 minutes before the game starts.

For me, i use this time to continue stretching the muscles that i need to make sure i stretch so that i don't cramp up or pull a muscle. While i'm stretching i'm thinking about what my job is on the field. This weekend I played the dorito side so i mentally pictured myself running my primary, what angles can i shoot from there, who can stop me from moving up to my secondary, what angles can i shoot from there, what am i going to do if someone is stopping me from moving up, etc?
When i'm done stretching, i'll go and make sure my gun is working, this always involves changing the batteries in my gun and hopper. Then running about two hoppers worth of paint through my gun to make sure everything works, then chronoing it and moving on. This is where i'll take one last look over the gameplans, making sure i know exactly what i'm supposed to do for each play.
After all this is done, it puts me at ease and i'm focused and ready to play because i don't have any doubts. I know my body is physically ready to play, i know my gun is working perfectly, and knowing exactly what i'm going to do on the field puts any doubt out of my mind. By doing the same routine over and over it's like a checklist to a pilot, it installs confidence in your gear, and more importantly, yourself.

So, to sum it all up, come up with a team warmup and stick to it, everytime, while you're doing the teams' warmup, do whatever you have to do. The most important thing you need to accomplish during this entire process is to remove all doubt. The little mice running around inside your head that make you doubt your playing ability will only distract you from winning, showing up to a game with gear that might not work is going to distract you from winning, not knowing what you're job on the field is will distract you from winning. By having everyone on the team there to warm up will install confidence in one another, because it removes doubt in your team-mates. (one of the biggest distractions a team can have is wondering if a teammate is going to show up on time!)